As a Linux user, I was never able to find an Windows IRC client that would make me set aside my beloved IRSSI. mIRC isn't free, and every other option out there is unpolished at best. HydraIRC changed all that. Not only is it free and open source, but is packed with so many features that I actually use! Channel monitoring allows me to see what's going on in every channel, without having to flip around; and the event log allows me to see not only when someone says my name or messages me, but exactly what was said and when. This client is not perfect though. It's still in active development, so some features are unpolished. The options screen is mainly a modified text editor that takes raw inputs; though the important stuff has a shiny interface, and it's easy to figure out the rest. All in all though, Hydra is a wonderful client for people that are tired of mIRC and its ilk.
Price: Free review details

Upon launching DeepBurner, I quickly discovered the interface to be familiar and welcoming. It's designed to be immediately usable by anyone that's even remotely used to Nero (like myself, having used it twice). The ISO burning feature, being the main reason I downloaded this tool, is simple and presents you with a Wizard interface that leaves you burning in three simple steps.
My only gripe about this program is that, when the burning completed, the software did not eject the disc. When I tried to eject it myself, the drive refused to open. Surely this is a simple bug involving the software releasing the drive when burning is complete. All I did was eject the disk after a reboot. This may be a problem for individuals that do not wish to restart their machine every burn though.
If the developers were to fix this one bug, I would gladly give the software a perfect score. Highly recommended as a free ... alternative.
Price: Free review details